Chapter 1- Enter: Kelly Urqhardt

It’s creepy. Very creepy.

The place where I am is utterly white. Not a trace of any other colour. This place is in fact so white that I can’t even begin to tell how big the area I’m in is. It is also enshrouded in complete silence. Silence like I’ve never experienced before. I would stretch my hand out to see if there is even any space ahead of me, however I am too captivated by the screen floating right by my face.

It’s slightly blue, almost transparent, and when I shift my head, it re-centres in the middle of my vision, as if it is locked with my eyes. The screen appears as though it has no mass. Like I could put my hand straight through it, similar to a hologram.

Sweat begins to drip down my forehead.

I swallow, and begin to read the black text that is written on the screen. Confused by what I read, I blink twice, inhaling as I do, and read it again.

[Please choose a weapon]

I am still frozen in place as I read. I turn my head to my left and then my right trying to see if there is anything around that may clue me into what is happening, and the screen follows my head movements. When I turn around fully, I begin to finally hear noise for the first time.

I quickly turn back to my original position to see what is making this noise. It almost sounds like nails on a chalk board. The screen continues to follow my movements, and stays completely centre with my vision. In the distance - or what I assume to be the distance - I begin to see the first shred of colour in this very white space. It’s small, almost like a little dot, but quickly increases in size as it gets closer, the sound getting louder with each passing moment.

Sweat forms all over my body now, and I begin to shake.

I would try to move away, as whatever is making the noise is getting closer, however even that is a major risk, as I can’t see the floor. What I am currently standing on must be floor, I presume, however due to the whiteness of the room, I can’t see if there is any more floor around me.

I breath in, and close my eyes, listening as the sound gets closer. I think about praying, pleading with anything that will wake me up from this weird nightmare. The sound gets closer, and my shaking transforms into a full nervous breakdown. Tears form in my shut eyes, and I cease breathing as the noise finally stops right at my feet.

I wait. It could have been a minute, maybe hours, but I wait. I stand there, eyes shut, trembling,trying my best to not make a sound while breathing. After an unknown amount of time, I slowly begin to open my eyes.

The first thing I notice is the screen, still there, dead centre of my vision, still asking me to choose a weapon. As I read it once more, the screen magically disappears so fast that I almost gasp, but am able to control myself from doing so. I look down to finally see what was coming closer to me, and as I do, I raise an eyebrow in confusion.

It’s.. a table? It’s a deep brown, and rectangular in shape, with nice carvings of markings I have never seen before. The table is massive, endless, as when I look down into the white area, I am unable to see where the table ends. The table has a white-gold cloth placed on it, again with the same markings that are carved into the wood. What is on the table makes me raise both eyebrows.

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Weapons. An infinite array of weapons line the table.

For the first time, I slowly and carefully move my foot, and thankfully continue to feel more flooring as I do so. I grab ahold of the edge of the table, and carefully continue to make tiny steps forward.

The table has graciously given me a little bit of depth perception back.

I carefully take a deep breath, and touch the first weapon on the table. It’s a sword. I lift it up, and it’s heavier than it looks. The sword has a burgundy leather that surrounds the hilt. It’s long, but not so incredibly long as to allow it to still work well enough with one hand. I tighten my grip on the sword, and touch the blade. It’s a darker silver colour - the colour you would expect from a blade. It’s sharp, as when I lightly wipe my finger slowly down the blade, I feel a few layers of skin tear. I stop before any blood gets drawn.

I place the sword back on the table and put both of my hands on my head. What the hell is going on? I look back down the never-ending table, and continue to see various weapons of all shapes and sizes. I continue to walk, as I have no idea what to do otherwise, and pick up and inspect many other weapons as I do.

I come across a deep, dark blue bow that is extremely heavy. I try to pull the string but it hardly budges. I see a dagger with a purple tip and curved blade, giving it a crescent moon shape. I see spears, shields, hell, I even see a drum. Why would there be a drum on a table of weapons?

I bang on it a few times and continue to walk.

As I walk for probably another 5 minutes, that’s when I see a weapon that truly draws my attention. It an axe, and when I grab hold of it with one arm, I feel that the head of the axe is much heavier than the handle. Just like most of the other weapons, it seems it can be used as a two handed weapon, but certainly works with one had as well.

The axe is very nice, and would definitely get attention in a zombie movie. On the back of the axe head, it has 4 spikes that come off of it, making it deadly on both sides. I swing it around a few more times, and truly feel the force of it. Saying the head was heavy was an understatement. This beast of a weapon is more like a sledge hammer.

As I continue playing with the axe, my anxiety seems to go down a bit, and almost as if knowing that it does, that clear-blue screen appears once again.

[Please choose a weapon]

Again, it has the same text on it, asking me to choose a weapon. This time when I look back at the axe in my hand, the screen stays floating in the air ahead of me, no longer centering itself with my vision. The axe is beautiful, and feels so good in my hands. I don’t know what is happening, I don’t know what is going to happen, but with this axe, my anxiety would feel a lot better. I could definitely defend myself with this weapon. I could even do a lot more with it if need be. This is a strong weapon. It’s pretty, hefty, and down right deadly.

But that’s no what I need.

I place the axe back down on the table and walk back the way I came. Back straight to the front of the table.

I don’t know what compels me to think this way, but I know that something that calms my nerves during this situation will get me hurt.

I need something that is easy to use, powerful, and wont fail me. That’s when I pick up the first weapon, the sword with the burgundy hilt. Something about it tells me that this is the correct choice.

I swallow, and look at the screen that has been following me, still floating in the air, still showing that same sentence. I hesitate before saying my first words since being here. I look back down at the sword in my hand, and tighten my jaw. I stare back at the floating screen, and say the words it is asking of me.

“I choose this sword.”

The screen immediately changes.

[Please take the blue exit to proceed to the next stage]

After telling the screen my choice, a gush of wind blasts me, and I almost tumble over, catching myself at the last second. I look towards the table, and it’s moving at an unreal pace away from me, back the way it came.

The wind continues to make me squint as I look around. That’s when I notice a blue circle behind me. The circle is big, big enough that someone could walk through it. The centre of the circle looks like it is a liquid that appears to be thicker than molasses, but at the same time runnier than water. The edges of this blue oval appears to be evaporating into wisps of blue energy, however the circle does not shrink in size and remains constant. The wind gushes out of this… thing and hits my body.

With the sword still in my hand, I walk towards it. At this point, I’m fully convinced this has to be a dream. I look to my left and still see the screen asking me to take the blue exit. I try to change the words on the screen with my mind, but nothing happens. Dang, guess it must not be a lucid dream.

As I get closer to the blue circle, the wind gets stronger, and I have to put my left arm in front of my face to shield my eyes. I stop walking when I am directly ahead of it. My anxiety is back in full force as I reach my sword towards the circle. I try placing the tip of my sword into the circle, and it passes through with no problems.

I gulp, and place more of the sword into the circle. Again, there is no resistance stoping my advancing sword. I exhale slowly, as wind continues to attack my face, and finally take my first step through this blue exit.